{"id":479440,"date":"2026-02-20T07:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T07:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479440\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T07:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T07:19:09","slug":"us-man-built-his-own-200000-home-on-top-of-a-nyc-skyscraper-because-it-reflected-how-he-wanted-to-live-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/479440\/","title":{"rendered":"US man built his own $200,000 home on top of a NYC skyscraper because it reflected how he wanted to live in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

He once fantasized about helicoptering a trailer onto an NYC skyscraper.<\/p>\n

Years later, he built his own $200,000 wooden chalet on top of one instead.<\/p>\n

It started with a tiny janitor\u2019s apartment on a 1926 Upper West Side block.<\/p>\n

And nearly 30 years on, he\u2019s still living above it all.<\/p>\n

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How a US man built his own $200,000 home on top of a New York skyscraper<\/p>\n

In the late 1980s, architect<\/a> Andrew Tesoro had what he calls a fantasy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019d toured a $19,999 mobile home and thought about buying one, then airlifting it onto a Manhattan<\/a> roof.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The appeal wasn\u2019t the trailer itself, it was the light, the outside space, the idea of carving out something airy in a city that feels permanently stacked on itself.<\/p>\n

Eventually, he found a roof he could work with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>Caleb Simpson \/ YouTube<\/p>\n

The building, constructed in 1926, had a small janitor\u2019s apartment sitting on top.<\/p>\n

Tesoro bought it for more than $150,000 at a time when comparable studios were selling for $50,000 or $60,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It stretched his budget, but he\u2019d already confirmed the crucial detail: the property still had development rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That meant he could legally build upward.<\/p>\n

The original skylight became the opening for a stair.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Walls came down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A large window facing the park went in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over time, the roof transformed into a multi-level wooden chalet with bedrooms, open living space, and a top room with windows in all four directions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>Caleb Simpson \/ YouTube<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>Caleb Simpson \/ YouTube<\/p>\n

He chose a copper roof \u2013 expensive, but designed to last a century \u2013 because it felt right for New York.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not polished.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The main stair is still technically a temporary construction stair because he ran out of money.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For years he barbecued outside instead of installing a proper kitchen, and one faucet was pieced together from a Home Depot run and duct tape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Tesoro doesn\u2019t seem bothered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He says homes shouldn\u2019t be too perfect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After all, people aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>Caleb Simpson \/ YouTube<\/p>\n

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Building on a NYC skyscraper is complicated\u2026 but possible<\/p>\n

According to Tesoro, someone could still pull this off today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The catch is zoning<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York City\u2019s zoning resolution reads like, in his words, a kind of \u2018bible,\u2019 and not an easy one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s dense, technical, and often confusing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>Caleb Simpson \/ YouTube<\/p>\n

Still, if development rights remain and you\u2019re willing to work within the parameters, there\u2019s room for creativity.<\/p>\n

His design thinking draws heavily from the Pantheon in Rome<\/a>, particularly the way light moves through its oculus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He talks less about technical precision<\/a> and more about space \u2013 how light shifts during the day, how rooms connect, how openness can matter more than strict privacy in smaller footprints.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even the building\u2019s water tower, which supplies the entire block, is left exposed because he sees it as sculptural, part of the city\u2019s character.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s lived there for 28 years, raising a son and building a life above the 10th floor.<\/p>\n

He says he built it because he wanted to build his own house.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The value of the property isn\u2019t the point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fact that he made it happen is.<\/p>\n

No helicopter required.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDISCOVER SBX CARS:
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He once fantasized about helicoptering a trailer onto an NYC skyscraper. Years later, he built his own $200,000…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":["post-479440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}